Current News

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) announced grants today totaling $3,083,910 to protect 2,127 acres of agricultural land on 14 farms and a sugarbush and to conserve 641 acres of wooded and open land on three properties with recreational trails in the towns of Williston, Lyndon and West Windsor. The grants were made to the Vermont Land Trust, the Lake Champlain Land Trust, Kingdom Trails and The Trust for Public Lands. The funding commitments were made at the Board’s May meeting.

Chuck Ross, Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, said, “Farmers will use these VHCB grants to provide capital for expansion, diversification, debt reduction or retirement. Conservation allows farmers to realize a portion of the equity in their property while also permanently protecting the land, ensuring that Vermont farmland will be available for generations to come. It’s a win-win for farmers as well as for Vermont’s agricultural economy.”

The Vermont State Police participated in the national "Click It or Ticket it" campaign; as well as Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) over the Memorial holiday weekend from Friday May 22 until Monday May 25, 2015. Sadly, there were three (3) fatalities on Vermont roadways this past holiday weekend. There have been fourteen (14) total fatalities in Vermont this year to date. 42% of this year's fatalities have either been unbelted or improperly restrained.

The Vermont State Police responded to; five (5) impaired related crashes, thirty-three (33) total crashes, twelve (12) DUI arrests, three hundred and eighty-nine (389) speeding tickets and assisted over forty-two (42) motorists.

The "Click it or Ticket it" enforcement campaign will end on June 1, 2015.

WCAX-TV announced today that Marselis "Div" Parsons died this morning. A WCAX report said: "It is with great sadness we report the passing of our friend and colleague Marselis Parsons. Marselis died Wednesday morning of cancer. He was 70. Marselis thanked his loyal following six years ago when he retired from WCAX News. 'We have been a guest. I have been a guest in their homes for 25 years. It has been an honor,' Marselis said in his last newscast. The former news director, reporter and anchor told stories here for 43 years. Producing stories on film was part the process when Marselis began his career here at Channel 3 in 1967."

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Vermont Business Magazine Bolstered by a strong increase in the number of workers against a steep drop in the number of unemployed, the Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April was 3.6 percent. This represents a decrease of two-tenths of a percentage point from the revised March rate (3.8 percent). The national average in April was 5.4 percent, which experienced a decrease of one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month’s estimate. Vermont’s unemployment rate is tied with South Dakota for fourth lowest in the country. Nebraska is lowest at 2.5 percent. April represents the seventh consecutive month without an increase to the unemployment rate.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) announced today that Duane Peterson, founder and co-president of SunCommon, as the 2015 recipient of the Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business. Named for the late owner of Hemmings Motor News and a founding member of VBSR, the award is given to a VBSR member who best exemplifies Ehrich’s commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy, and community.

Ski Vermont is excited to announce the winner of this season’s Vertical Challenge, the second competition stemming from Ski Vermont’s Check In to Win program. Rob Weiss from Albany, New York logged almost two million vertical feet snowboarding at Killington Resort in an impressive 85 days on the hill this season. He wins a two night ski and stay package to a Jay Peak Resort and ultimate bragging rights.

“I have a total of 152 days this season so far. I say so far because I am still going to Killington everyday they are open – Friday through Sunday until the snow is gone,” said winner Rob Weiss. “This is a normal season for me.” Ron is still racking up the vertical feet and going for 3.5 million before the season comes to an end.

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Tuesday launched his campaign in Burlington for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. In a speech this evening, Sanders will laid out the serious challenges facing the country and detail an “Agenda for America” calling for specific proposals to provide bold solutions.

In remarks prepared for delivery at the outdoor event on the shore of Lake Champlain, Sanders said (CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH ON CSPAN):

“Today, with your support and the support of millions of people throughout this country, we begin a political revolution to transform our country economically, politically, socially and environmentally. Today, we stand here and say loudly and clearly that: ‘Enough is enough. This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their Super PACs and their lobbyists.”

According to a new statewide assessment, tobacco marketing remains prevalent and visible to Vermont youth. One in four stores selling tobacco products place the advertisements at eye-level for a child.

Youth and adult volunteers conducted the assessment of 767 of the approximately 1,000 tobacco retail stores in communities statewide during October through December 2014 as part of the CounterBalance campaign to help end tobacco’s influence on Vermont’s youth.

Although other types of tobacco marketing have been restricted, convenience stores and other retail outlets are still places where children and youth are certain to see tobacco products and ads. In many cases, they are exposed to tobacco marketing without even going inside the store.

According to the assessment findings, more than one in three retailers (41%) had tobacco marketing visible from outside the store, and 12 percent of these stores were within 1,000 feet of a school.

Bernie Bear officially enters the Presidential arena after formally announcing his campaign in Burlington, Vermont Tuesday at 5 pm. Drawing a non-politically charged parallel between the Bear and Senator Sanders, Vermont Teddy Bear refers to the Bear as "ready to hit the campaign trail" and "a passionate, blunt speaker." The look-a-like Bear has unruly white hair, glasses and arrives wearing a suit, tie, white shirt and campaign pin.

"We just couldn't resist," says Bill Shouldice, President and Chief Executive, Vermont Teddy Bear. "Given Senator Bernie Sanders' well-known affinity for President Theodore Roosevelt, and our products' tie to the former President of the United States, it seemed only natural. Teddy Roosevelt is where the Bear legacy began. He even carried one with him on the campaign trail! And, it was deemed cool."

Sally Hergenrader of Longboat Key, Fla., a member of the University of Vermont Class of 1955, has made a $250,000 pledge to the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) in celebration of her 60th reunion year. The gift will be used to establish the Sally Jensen Hergenrader Endowed Fellowship in Advanced Practice Education in Primary Care Nursing. The fellowship will be providing tuition and stipend support for selected graduate students pursuing advanced practice education in nursing who want to earn a doctor of nursing practice degree (DNP) and engage in primary care in Vermont or other area of defined need for primary care providers.

As opiate drug abuse has become an increasing problem in many Vermont communities, two Mt. Ascutney Hospital doctors have created a project aimed at caring for mothers and infants who are addicted, or at-risk. Pediatricians Kimberly Aakre, MD and Mary Bender, MD, were recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in support of their project. The grant is part of AAP’s Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) program, which awards funding to individual pediatricians for community-based child health initiatives aimed at reaching children who may not have access to health care services in their community.

“Dr. Bender and I are working to develop a system of care and support for mothers who are in recovery from opiate addiction and their young children,” said Dr. Aakre. “Both of us have deep concerns about the rising incidence of opiate use in Vermont and the devastating effects we’ve seen on the families and children we serve.”

by John McClaughry Governor Peter Shumlin proclaimed this year’s legislative session to be “one of the most productive sessions that I can remember.” To others that appears as a new frontier in spin, possibly coupled with a bit of amnesia. Let’s review the report card.

Going into the session in January, the state’s General Fund for 2016 faced a projected $113 million deficit. The legislature cut $53 million out of the governor’s budget request. This was hailed as a new era of public frugality.

But as former Finance and Management Commissioner Tom Pelham has repeatedly pointed out, most of that $53 million represents cuts from the Governor’s wish list – not actual cuts from 2015 spending levels.